My Brother's Roomate
by Riley 35
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Serena's parents are moving to Australia because of work. She refuses to go. She'd rather live on the street in a cardboard box. She'd even move in with her jerk brother and his friend Darien...though that cardbord box might be easier.


**A/N: Alright, so this my second fanfic, and my first ever attempt at a Sailor Moon fanfic. Usually I don't like writing or reading AU's but this idea just came into my head and I had to write it. Basically it's about Serena living with Darien and her brother, Travis (OG character), for a year while her parents are in Australia for her father's work. The problem is that it's not exactly easy for a sixteen-year-old girl to fit in with two nineteen-year-old University guys. But, of course, Serena's going to find a way to fit in with her brother, and more than fit in Darien. Hint, hint… Anyway, on with the story. **

Serena is _not_ moving all the way to Australia. No way Jose! Why would her father's job possibly have to send him to _Australia_ anyway? He's an accountant! You can be an accountant anywhere! Well if her parents are set on moving, it's fine with her. They can kiss her goodbye. She'll live anywhere. She'll live in the streets in a cardboard box. She'll live in the school basement like some kind of weirdo. She'll even move in with her degenerate University brother and his best friend…wait a minute…

Chapter 1: She's Lost Her Mind

"Have you completely lost your mind?!" Ken Tsukino asked, looking at his sixteen-year-old daughter in complete disbelief. From the expression on his face you would have thought that Serena had just suggested that she be named queen of the house, and everyone in the family do her chores and homework for her. In Ken's eyes what Serena had just asked was just as preposterous a proposal.

It was about six o'clock at night in Japan. The Tsukino family was seated down for a nice, cozy family dinner around the kitchen table. There was Irene, the matriarch of the family. She was a lovely, blue haired woman. Anyone who saw her would think her the ideal example of a perfect, traditional wife and mother. She was often dressed in bright, charming dresses, many of them made by her own hand. She had lovely, dark blue hair that hung down a little past her shoulders, and bright blue eyes. She always had a smile on her face, except for when she had to scold her sixteen-year-old daughter, fret over her nineteen-year-old son's lifestyle, or calm down her stubborn husband. It was already quite obvious that tonight would be a night of scolding and calming down for Irene.

"Irene!" Ken shouted angrily, even though his wife was literally only a seat away from him. "Do you hear the nonsense that's coming out of your daughter's mouth?" he asked, obviously expecting Irene to back him up in his rage.

If Irene was the ideal of the traditional wife and mother, then Ken definitely represented the typical husband and father. He was a very straight looking man; he wore glasses and he had short brown hair cut in a very plain, clean cut way. He was always dressed in something like slacks, a polo shirt, and sensible shoes. He had a nice, steady job as an accountant that allowed his family to live a comfortable lifestyle. He loved his daughter, Serena, but he was extremely protective of her and he was proud of his son, Travis, though he was concerned for the young man's future. He loved his wife, but he could still be extremely hotheaded at times.

"It's not nonsense!" Serena exclaimed indignantly. She knew her parents wouldn't exactly jump for joy when she told them about her new idea, but she hated it when her father flipped out on her like that.

Serena was the youngest of the Tsukino family. She was sixteen-years-old and about to start her junior year of high school at Crossroads High School. She had long, golden blonde hair, and her mother's blue eyes. She wanted what all teenage girls wanted; nice clothes, friends, a little attention, a date. She pretty much rode the middle way in all aspects of life. She wasn't extremely popular at school, but she wasn't a looser. She had her group of friends who she hung out with and they were all fond of her. She wasn't a bad kid; she didn't drink, she wasn't on drugs, and she didn't go around having promiscuous sex with every guy who walked past her in the school hallway. Actually she wasn't having sex at all. She was so far from having sex, it was almost embarrassing. Then again, she was known to give her parents a little bit of trouble sometimes. They were constantly trying to get her to study more, and she was always coming up with brilliant ideas that, when presented with, her parents usually found said ideas to be…not very brilliant at all.

"Not nonsense?!" said Ken with a scoff. "You want to move in with your nineteen-year-old brother and some _friend_ of his-"

"Dad, Darien isn't just some friend. He's practically part of the family!" Serena argued.

* * *

Darien Shields had been Travis Tsukino's best friend since the first grade, when Serena was still taking naps in preschool. They had met at a junior soccer game. Travis had been on one team, the local team, and Darien had been on the other team, also known as "the team from the super rich neighborhood". The two had gotten into an extremely heated struggle for the ball, more like they got into a violent slap fight between seven-year-olds, ending up with both of them getting kicked out of the game. When the game was over Ken, being the honorable man that he was, insisted that Travis go find Darien, apologize, and tell him good game. "But Dad!" the seven-year-old Travis had whined. "He's a rich snob! He'll probably just spit in my face or something." Later, Ken told Irene that he had no idea where a first grader had gotten this preconceived notion about the wealthier people in life…Actually he had a pretty good idea that Travis had heard it from Coach Avery, the very bigoted High School teacher who voluntarily coached the junior team. (The team had played their last game against a group of kids sponsored by a local church and, during a pep talk, Ken heard Coach Avery tell the kids to "wipe the field with those intolerance practicing brats") But he made Travis go over to Darien nonetheless. It was a long, demeaning, trudge across the soccer field for Travis. When he reached the other side he saw Darien, among his teammates, taking of his cleats and changing into his street shoes.

"Hey kid." Travis had called out.

Darien turned around. He had looked a little apprehensive when he saw Travis, as if he was afraid that the other boy would attempt to jump or something. Travis rubbed the back of his head feeling a bit embarrassed. 'Why'd dad have to make me do this anyway?' he thought begrudgingly. He looked behind him and saw Ken a short distance away, watching him expectantly. Travis sighed and turned his attention back to Darien. "I'm sorry I knocked you down and hit you and scratched you and stuff." He said quickly.

"Oh, that's OK." Darien said immediately. Travis was caught a bit off guard. He had been expecting a response more like, "Well you should be sorry you filthy peasant." Coach Avery had said that the kids from Darien's neighborhood thought almost everyone was a peasant. Travis hadn't been sure what a peasant was, but he knew he didn't like people thinking he was one, if he wasn't. And he was pretty sure he would have known if he was a peasant or not, because then he would have known what peasant was. "You were just being aggressive!" Darien said followed by a vigorous nodding of his head, showing that he clearly thought there was nothing wrong with Travis' actions. "Aggressive?" Travis had asked. "What's that?"

Darien paused in thought. "Well, I don't know for sure, but I think it has something to do with attacking people. But my dad says I need to be as aggressive in the field as he and my mom are in court." He told Travis.

"Court?" Travis said questioningly. "Are you mom and dad basketball players?" Travis asked, wide-eyed. No wonder this kid was rich, if parents were both basketball players.

Darien shook his head. "No they're lawyers, Aggressive lawyers." Travis hadn't realized it, but somewhere in that conversation with Darien they had gone from adversaries to friends. "Anyway," Darien said. "I guess I should apologize for biting you, and using my inner ki on you." He said looking as sincere as a seven-year-old boy could.

"Using you _what_?" Travis asked. "My ki." Darien said. "It's my center energy, my point of balance. You have ki too you know." He told Travis in a matter-of-fact way.

"Cool! How do use it?" Travis asked. "I learned how in my martial arts class." Darien told him. "I'm a brown belt." Travis was completely hooked. "Can you show me how?" he asked. "Sure, I guess I could." Darien said. "Yeah, you should come over to my house right now!" Travis exclaimed excitedly.

"OK." Darien said with a grin.

"Your parents won't mind, will they?" Travis asked.

"Nah, Darien said, they're out of town anyway." He assured Travis.

"…oh" Travis said in surprise. He always had at least one pf his parents at his game. "OK, let's go! We can practice our moves on my baby sister!" he said as they ran across the field to Ken's mini van.

"Won't that hurt her?" Darien asked.

"Nah! She's really round and soft, like a big ol' marshmallow!"

Ever since then, Travis and Darien had been the best of friends. Even though Darien went to a wealthy private school, while Travis had always gone to the local public schools they always found time to hang with each other. From the day he and Travis had become friends Darien had been, as Serena said, practically part of the family. It wasn't unusual for him to sleep over often or eat dinner with the family a number of nights in a row. He'd even gone with the Tsukino's on some of their family vacations. Darien was an only child and his parents were usually out of town on business, as they had been when Travis had first met him. He got lonely all alone in that big house. Irene and Ken had instantly fallen in love with Darien's sincerity and kindness, and saw him as a second son. Except unlike their other son this son got amazing grades and was a bit less troublesome. Serena was also very used to Darien. It seemed like he had always been a part of her life; teasing her, helping her with her homework, hanging out with her sometimes when Travis wasn't around, and he was a great deal nicer to her than Travis.

Travis and Darien had both grown up a great deal since they met at that soccer game twelve years ago. They were both nineteen-years-old and about to start their second year of college. Travis had gone from a spirited, adorable boy, to an attractive young man. He had devious good looks with his dirty blond hair, slightly spiked, and his father's brown eyes. He usually dressed casually in jeans and graphic T-shirts or long-sleeved plaid shirts. His outfits were usually completed with his pair of old raggedy, black converse all star sneakers, which he'd had since the eighth grade and swore he'd wear until they disintegrated on his feet. Sometimes if, he was feeling spiffy he'd even go for a plaid shirt, graphic T-shirt combination, with the T-shirt inside and the plaid shirt on top. Styling… He was earning himself degrees in economics and business. Even though Travis was doing a respectable job in university, it was no secret that he liked to have himself a good time. His wild stints of debauchery were not completely unknown by his parents, who rolled they're eyes and shook their heads, but were sure that he was still a good person who possessed the values that they had taught him.

Darien had gone from the sweet, kind boy he'd been to a kind, responsible, handsome young man. The kind of young man a girl would bring home to her parents to meet. He was the tall, dark, and handsome type with his jet black hair and hiss deep blue eyes. His style in clothing was little more sophisticated than Travis'. He often wore slacks with button up shirts. Sweaters and vests were also abundant in his closet, all very expensive pieces of clothing from boutiques. Now that he was old enough for his parents to let him spend great deals of money, he was not missing a beat on any area; just a year ago he'd bought a brand new red Mercerdes Benz, which had Travis green with envy. Not to mention Mr. Tsukino. He wasn't one to openly show of his wealth though. He was a bit more composed than Travis. The reason the Tsukino's were sure Travis wasn't getting himself into too _much_ trouble. Little did they know, Darien was not a _complete_ do-gooder, he knew when to unwind, and he knew he had to do it whiles he was young and free. He was just a hell of a lot better at hiding his misdemeanors than Travis was.

The two students shared an apartment together in the middle of the city, a short distance from both of their universities. They'd both grown a bit distant from the family ever since they left for college. It was unavoidable, and a bit unforgettable with the two empty chairs that were around the kitchen table as the family ate their dinner that night. Serena hadn't seen either of them since about half a month ago when they had come over for dinner. She didn't know them as well as she used to. She still talked to her brother on Instant Message and over the phone sometimes, it wasn't as if they were complete strangers. However, she hadn't spoken to Darien since that dinner some weeks ago, and when she had, it had been to ask him to pass the potatoes. The two of them really didn't have anything to talk about, but he was still, practically, family.

* * *

"Serena has a point Ken." Irene agreed with a smile. "Darien is basically part of the family, and such a responsible, nice young man."

"Yes, yes, I know." Ken said. "But it's not him I'm worried about. There's no way I'm letting her live with _Travis_. Not with his crazy lifestyle."

"Dad, I lived with Travis for fifteen years before he moved out." Serena pointed out.

"Yes, with us here as well," Ken disputed. "Your brother wasn't a delinquent when he was under our parental vigilance. But as soon as he left he turned to this life of debauchery. "

"Honey Travis isn't a _delinquent_." Irene interjected.

"Yeah dad, he's just being a college student. You act like he's on the street selling his blood for liquor money." Serena said. "And I'd never end up like Travis. I'm way more mature."

"Hah!" Ken scoffed.

Serena frowned. "It's better than going all the way to _Australia_!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you actually want to make move to Australia!"

"Did you here that Irene?" Ken asked his wife rhetorically. "She says we're _making_ her go to Australia. It's not as if my job demands it of me or anything. Oh no, I just had the urge to go see the wallabies and kangaroos!"

"Serena, it's only for a year sweetie." Irene said temporarily ignoring her husband. "A year goes by fast. And think about all the sites you'll get to see and learning about a new culture-"

"I don't care about the culture and the sites mom!" Serena exclaimed passionately. 'I'm not going to start crying, I'm not going to start crying," she willed herself. "I care about my friends, who are all going to forget about me whiles dad's playing with the kangaroos!"

Ken huffed.

"If they're really your friends, they're not going to forget about you." Irene said sagely.

"Mom, things _happen_ in a year. And if I'm in Australia I'm going to miss them!" She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Irene sighed. "Don't you think you're being a little overdramatic Serena?"

And the tears started pouring out. "No!" Serena exclaimed angrily. 'Great, now I look really mature' she thought angrily. She stood up quickly. "You guys don't even care if you completely ruin my life!" And with that very common teenage girl sentiment, she did something else very common of hormonally charged teenage girls everywhere and ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into her room, leaving her warm dinner still on her plate and on the kitchen table. She entered her room, slammed the door and flopped onto her bed in a fit of teenage anguish.

**And that was the first chapter. It was pretty slow moving, and I have to admit not much happened but it's setting up the scene for things to come. I'm starting to ramble again, so now I'm just going to say I hope you readers enjoyed the chapter. Please R&R!**

**Riley 35**


End file.
